


Maybe there's something to be thankful for

by screamingiminlovewithyou



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: F/M, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 16:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamingiminlovewithyou/pseuds/screamingiminlovewithyou
Summary: Life hasn't treated MJ that well over the years, but maybe it'll change after the thanksgiving dinner her mom forced her to go to.





	Maybe there's something to be thankful for

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I know I haven't written in forever but I decided to give it a go again so please bear with me. 
> 
> English isn't my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes, also, this is based in this prompt I tweeted last night; 
> 
> "mj needing a date for thanksgiving dinner party and being stressed about it until she gets there and realizes her mom invited good ol' may parker and her dorky nephew peter whom she once was best friends with."

It was another night of just getting drunk and trying to let the loneliness out of her system, MJ just wanted to have fun and relax for a little while, ignore the pulsing headache she gets every time she finishes talking to her mom, it’s always something that she expects from her and she’s scared she’ll never live up to it.

She never has.

So, the next thing to do? Drink it out and pretend she’s the only one in her world, just her and no one else. Not even the sweaty bodies and her supposed to be college friends that only talk to her whenever they want to go out and get trashed.

After making her way out of the party, with plans to pass out ‘til the next day, her phone rings, and that annoying ringtone can only belong to one person;

“yes mom, what is it?” she says while unlocking her door and letting herself inside her apartment

“darling, we’re having a thanksgiving dinner next week, you know it’s an important date for us so you should be here”

MJ stopped in the middle of her living room, running her hands through her hair “I haven’t been home for thanksgiving since I started college”

“Exactly, you should be here this time”

“Can I raincheck?”

“No, Michelle. And your sister is getting engaged, so it’s completely important for you to be here. And if you still don’t have a date, I can introduce you to some of my friends’ sons”

“Okay I’ll get back to you tomorrow, bye”

She hung up and sighed loudly, her mom’s been doing this since she turned 15, always trying to ‘find’ someone for her even after she’s told her that she doesn’t want anyone and just wants time for herself and follow her own professional path although she’s experienced dating both women and men during her teenage years and college as well.

But karma always gets back at her, one way or another.

Next week arrives and MJ finds herself in New York’s train station, she’s back after leaving town once college started and never coming back, finding a new home in Boston and whatever place her mom and step father wants to meet up for the holidays. She’s dreading going back home and putting on a fake smile before she even gets out of the cab that’ll take her there, so she does the smartest thing, get coffee.

It goes as uneventful as it could go, except she runs with her old classmate Flash and chats with him for about ten minutes while she waits to be called and after the part ways, she finally goes home and gets ready to get through the worst week of her life.

“Oh, you’re here! Welcome back!” her mom exclaimed as she walked into the foyer, hugging her in the process and looking at her from head to toe.

After some overwhelming days of planning and impromptu shopping trips with her sister and mom, Michelle finally finds a day for herself, ironically enough, the day before thanksgiving dinner. She’s aimlessly walking around town and reminiscing on her high school days where all she did was walk around either on her own or with Peter and Ned to whom she’s lost contact with after their freshman year.

MJ walks around central park and sits on a bench near the lake and sketches on her journal while the sun sets, focusing on the trees and squirrels and sometimes how the sky looks, noticing the shadows and perspectives, everything she learned in her art minor.

She sees a red and black flash go through the sky and her heart skips a beat

There are things that will never change.

Thanksgiving Day was here and she was regretting her life choices, everyone was doing their best to have a perfect night and all she wanted to do was run

She was never good with people and having a socialite mom didn’t help her struggles but she had to suck it down once again before she could actually go back to her the place she calls home now and resume her life without people telling her what to do.

She was wearing a suit, she knew her mom would have a fit but for all she cared, she was doing her a favor

MJ could hear people from her room so she allowed herself to walk down the stairs and go into the living room where people greeted her and asked her about her career and also where she got introduced to a lot of her mom’s friends’ sons, to which all she could think about was just a waste of her time.

As time went by, Michelle could feel herself growing bored by the second until she almost spilled a drink on a woman she hasn’t seen in a while, it was May Parker in all her glory. She almost cried because she finally saw a familiar face, probably the best woman she’s ever met in her life and that’s a big title for her.

Following to her almost break down, her mother called them out for dinner and so it was time to go to the big table in the middle of the dining room, a place only used for these types of celebrations that wasn’t only her family’s

People gathered around the table and sat in their designated seats and moments before the toast could begin, a guy her age came in running and apologizing for being late, to which she didn’t pay mind to.

“M-Michelle? is that you?” she heard someone whispering beside her, and when she turned around to see who that voice belonged to, her world stopped

She couldn’t believe it

A whole fuck was yelled into her mind

It was Peter Parker

The boy she <strike>was</strike> in love with

Scratch that

The boy she’s still in love with

She was dead.

“Uh hey Peter” she exclaimed “long time no see” could she be more awkward? She scoffed to herself

“It’s been so long, wow I didn’t think I would ever see you again”

“Yeah well you know, you always come back to the place you loved life?” her mind is yelling at her to stop, she can’t believe she’s lost her element

This is his fault

It’s what he’s done to her since they first met when she just turned 8 and he was new in town

_Michelle was playing with a soccer ball and was doing tricks with it, it was a sunny day and her parents where under a tree stealing some shade and her sister was with her friends laughing and running around._

_Next thing Michelle knows is someone knocking into her and making her fall, ball forgotten and skin scratched_

_“Oh my god I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there” a small boy was rambling and saying 100 words per second and all she could make out was the words ‘I’m sorry’_

_He helps her up, looking at her all over “are you hurt oh my god I should’ve been more careful”_

_“My knee, it hurts”_

_“Wait let me get aunt May, she’s a nurse she’ll help”_

_Long story short, she got a new bruise that would look badass once it healed and showed the scar and she also got free ice cream as sorry from the sweet, anxious boy’s uncle_

_“I’m Peter, by the way, I just moved in”_

_“Hah, I thought your name was sorry” she saw him blush and it almost made her laugh_

_“I’m Michelle”_

_Once she heard his laugh later that day, she knew she was a goner_

_And maybe that word her big sister said a lot … “crush?” was real and maybe she liked this boy._

Sometime after dinner, people still hung around her house and she was sick of it, she wanted them gone but she had to settle to her hiding in her backyard near the pool

“Still leaving your own parties?” she looked up from her phone, seeing Peter walking towards her

“I’m tired”

“As always” he chuckled, sitting beside her and she smiled at him

“I think I saw you yesterday, you know?”

He frowned

“Why didn’t you say hi?”

“I meant to say I saw spider-man”

“O-oh, I still forget you know about that” he coughed

“I was a 67% sure anyway, the male escort theory was kinda solid if you ask me”

The tip of his ears turned pink

“Shut up”

He laughed and swatted at her, making her laugh and playfully kick him only for him to stop her and stare into her eyes until May called him back inside.

Days later after their encounter, MJ decided to leave her house once again and walk around central park with coffee in her hand and her sketch book in the other

She never liked coffee but the bitter taste makes her forget her seasonal depression and her hollow heart

She doesn’t pay much attention to her surroundings so of course she doesn’t notice someone’s watching her until it’s too late

“Well hello again”

Peter can confirm she shrieked but he’s sure MJ would kill him if he said it out loud

“Are you stalking me or something, Parker?”

“You wish, Jones” he smirked

Maybe she did, but don’t tell him that

“So uhm, what’s up?" he said, giving her his full attention

“Not much" she shrugged "This is my last day here, I’m going back to Boston tomorrow”

“Break went by too fast didn’t it”

“It was slow enough for me”

Silence fell over them, it wasn’t too awkward since she kept on drawing and he was on his phone

“I missed you”

Wait

“What?” she asked a bit surprised, she never expected those words to leave his mouth sometime soon

“Yeah” he scratched the back of his neck, “you kind of left and never looked back" he looked at her "My other best friend left me”

That shouldn’t have hurt the way it did

“I missed you too Parker”, she said rolling her eyes “Harvard isn’t as fun when your local white boy isn’t literally hanging around”

He playfully gasped

“Did Michelle Jones make a spider-man pun?”

“Be quiet”

He full on belly laughed

It still was music to her ears.

“Touché”

Weeks pass until she hears from him again, it’s nearing Christmas eve when she sees a new Instagram notification pop up, she’s studying in the library for her last final and decides to take a break and just scroll around for one bit

Her heart almost falls out her ass

The first thing she saw was Peter ––- they reconnected during thanksgiving and may or may not have gone back to being close

He was kissing a girl, she was beautiful and also MJ felt like crying

It was some girl named Felicia

They’ve been dating since thanksgiving

She closed the app and went back to study.

Rolling to New Year’s Eve, she was back in New York, she was invited to this party she really didn’t wanna go to but she rather be there than be with her family and deal with issues that are better left drowned in alcohol.

So, of course she finds herself pouring any kind of drink into a cup and tossing her head back, feeling the burning liquid going down her throat

“Well, well, well if it isn’t MJ”

She rolled her eyes and focused on the person in front of her

“Ned?”

“Oh, so you remember me” he said in his attempt on a mean voice.

She laughed and greeted her old friend, giving him a big hug and catching up with him for the time being, even after he went off and complained about her leaving him behind

She felt bad about it because she still missed him, but she needed to put herself first before everything went bad.

“Aw look at my two best friends hanging out again”

She heard someone cooing and of course, it had to be Peter

He hugged her and wished her a merry Christmas because apparently that’s the most normal thing to do, then proceeded to introduce her to his girlfriend, Felicia.

She felt sick by this point so she excused herself and ran to get some air

It’s all she’s been doing lately.

And she doesn’t mind it one bit.

Not even if peter notices it and goes to where she is to ask if she’s okay

Like if he knew how she was feeling.

“I’m good Parker, go back to the party” 

“Just wanna make sure that you’re okay, Em”

Huh, he hasn’t called her that in a long time

“I am, just needed a bit of air”

“Penny for your thoughts?”

How do you tell someone they’re the only thing you’re thinking about right now without making it weird?

“It’s about to be midnight, I think we should head back inside”

“I don’t mind waiting it out here with you”

“Your girlfriend is inside, dork”

He sighed

“Let me in” he whispered, stepping closer to her

“Not today” she whispered

_10, 9, 8_

They could hear the faint sound of people counting the last seconds of the year

_7, 6, 5_

All they could do was stare at each other

_4, 3_

He bit his lip and she kept searching his face

_2_

He closed his eyes and sighed

_1_

She couldn’t do this

_Happy new year!_

He closed the distance and pecked her lips, he did it once then twice and a third time, pulling away and opening his eyes, a panicked look on his face

“I’m so––” He couldn’t finish the sentence because MJ pulled him back to her, kissing him again

It was her final year of college and she couldn’t believe she’s done it this far, it’s been such a long way she’s gone through and it’s almost over, Harvard didn’t kick her ass as much as she thought it would, she conquered it and she couldn’t be happier

Regarding how messy things are with Peter at the moment.

They haven’t talked since the beginning of the year and is currently pushing March, after the kiss it all went to shit, he pulled away and ran inside to go find his girlfriend and it’s when she realized what they’ve done

She could never forgive herself

And he would never forgive her either.

One day after class, she was walking back to her apartment when she heard someone calling her name, and since she didn’t pay attention and kept walking, she felt someone tug on her wrist and pull her around

It was Peter

In Boston

Confused is an understatement right now.

“What are you doing here?” she said as she tried pulling away from him

“We need to talk” his eyes pleading and keeping her in place

“Didn’t think you’d be the type to”

“Stop playing, Em”

She crumbled at the nickname and walked him to her place, he looked around and complimented it.

“It really does feel like you”

“Well, it’s my home”

They were seated face to face and none of them knew how to begin, he was anxious and she was just tired of not being able to let her walls down

She loved him

She never stopped

**Then why can’t she just tell him?**

He took and breath and said, “Look Michelle I––“

“Wow, whole name and everything” she retorted

He ran a hand through his hair

“It’s no secret I’ve always liked you, probably since the first time I ever laid eyes on you”

She looked down

“But what we did on New Year’s, that wasn’t right, and you know it”

She felt her eyes tearing up

“I’m sorry Pete, I don’t know what came over me I––”

“But it felt so right at the same time, like somehow we belong together, like––”

She can’t breathe

“I can’t do this”

“Em?”

She gets up and starts pacing around the room

“Peter this isn’t our first kiss” she says running her hand through her hair, voice getting louder by the second

“This isn’t the first time we danced around each other" she stops in front of him, maintaining eye contact

"It’s like we keep flirting with both our fires and making them get bigger and bigger”

It gets silent.

A beat

Another beat

“Now you get why I had to leave?” she says softly, voice exhausted

He gets up, exasperated

“is it because you didn’t know how to handle it? How to handle me?” he says arms motioning around

“I can handle you” she fought back

“Then why it’s taken you so long to come back?” 

It got quiet for a minute

“Because I lost my chance” she yelled, voice breaking “Because I was a kid and I lost the best thing I ever had and I just couldn’t go back to that”

She choked a bit

“Because you were my first love and I let you go”

She sobbed, covering her face with her hands

“I shouldn’t have let you go”

_It was graduation day, Midtown was full with parents and students that finally finished their four years of high school and are going to their top college choice_

_The three best friends are laughing and hugging one another as their parents take pictures of them, happiness is visible in their faces as they congratulate each other and yell big whoops for getting through finals and college applications_

_“It’s over” a young Peter says _

_“It really is” valedictorian MJ says, giggling a little bit with shiny eyes_

_“doesn’t mean we have to be over, does it?” _

_“It’s you and me, loser”_

_“Promise?” he asked softly_

_“I promise” she smiled lightly and placed a kiss on his cheek._

The following day, MJ woke up to find a sleeping Peter beside her, sheets tangled between them and clothes scattered around her room, wild flashbacks from the night before came running to her

The way they yelled at each other and let all the pent-up frustration and pain out, the way their mouths fought each other and their skin felt against one another, limbs intertwined and battling for dominance, although they still have a lot of things to resolve, they decided to live their love the way they pleased.

The way it’s always supposed to be.

Peter & MJ.

MJ & Peter.

And to think all it took was a thanksgiving dinner.

Maybe there was something to be thankful for.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback and kudos are appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @ffalsegods
> 
> (also shout out to emma for supporting me into coming back)
> 
> Have a good day/ night!


End file.
